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Does disability insurance pay for an occupational disease?

In short

Does disability insurance pay for an occupational disease? Yes, if you are expected to be unable to do at least 50 percent of your job for six months or more. The cause does not matter, and you need no recognition from the Berufsgenossenschaft, the statutory accident insurer for your trade. Its own pension only starts at a 20 percent reduction in earning capacity.

Does disability insurance pay for an occupational disease?

What it costs

The very occupations with a risk of occupational disease pay more for a BU. Monthly premiums from published examples.

ExampleTypical range
Commercial employee, age 30, EUR 1,000 pension to age 67about EUR 50 to over EUR 100 a month
Roofer, age 20, EUR 1,000 pension to age 65about EUR 100 to over EUR 200 a month
Commercial employee, age 35, EUR 1,500 pension to age 67about EUR 54 to 75 a month
Tiler, age 35, EUR 1,500 pension to age 67about EUR 191 a month

Premium examples from publicly quoted figures, as of 2026,

for applicants without earlier conditions.

The Berufsgenossenschaft figures in the worked example are assumed and a guide value from our

quoting practice; in a real case the Berufsgenossenschaft sets the degree of reduction.

Your premium depends on occupation, age and health; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Tiler, 45, knee osteoarthritis from working on his knees

He can no longer kneel and gives up the trade. He could still do office or warehouse work without kneeling. This is how the two systems calculate.

Annual earningsEUR 42,000
Full pension from the Berufsgenossenschaft (two thirds)EUR 28,000 a year
Assumed reduction in earning capacity20 percent
Partial pension from the Berufsgenossenschaft (20 percent of EUR 28,000)EUR 5,600 a year, around EUR 467 a month
BU, measured against his own jobmore than 50 percent disabled, full agreed pension
Agreed BU pensionEUR 1,500 a month

Without a BU he would be left with around EUR 467 a month, and only if the knee osteoarthritis is recognised as an occupational disease. With a BU, EUR 1,500 a month comes on top, whatever the Berufsgenossenschaft decides.

Why the BU does not ask about the cause

German disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung, BU for short) is a private contract. The Insurance Contract Act defines disability by its effect: because of illness, bodily injury or a loss of strength beyond what is normal for your age, you are expected to be permanently unable to do the job you last did, in full or in part (§ 172 (2) VVG). Whether the illness comes from your work plays no part in that.

So an occupational disease (Berufskrankheit) is assessed in the BU like any other illness. You do not need a decision from the Berufsgenossenschaft, and a rejection there does not stand in the way of a BU claim. What matters are medical findings and a precise description of your working day.

What statutory accident insurance provides

Employees in Germany are covered by statutory accident insurance, run by the Berufsgenossenschaften, one for each group of trades. Occupational diseases are illnesses that are named in a federal regulation and were caused by the insured work (§ 9 (1) SGB VII). The list currently has 85 entries, for example noise-induced hearing loss, disc-related conditions of the lumbar spine, skin diseases and knee osteoarthritis from working on your knees. Mental illnesses are not on it.

The Berufsgenossenschaft only pays a pension if your earning capacity is reduced by at least 20 percent beyond the 26th week. The full pension is two thirds of your annual earnings; with a partial reduction you receive the matching share (§ 56 SGB VII). The measure is working life as a whole, not your own occupation.

QuestionPrivate BUBerufsgenossenschaft
Causeirrelevant, illness or accidentonly occupational disease or accident at work
Recognition needednoyes, the disease must be on the list or be newly recognised
Yardstickthe job you last didworking life as a whole
Thresholdusually 50 percent20 percent reduction in earning capacity
Amountthe monthly pension you agreeda share of two thirds of annual earnings
Who is protectedanyone who holds a contractemployees; the self-employed often only by choice

How an occupational disease gets recognised

Doctors and dentists must report a well-founded suspicion to the accident insurer without delay (§ 202 SGB VII). Employers report as well, and you can notify the disease yourself.

The Berufsgenossenschaft then checks whether you were exposed to the harmful influence at work and whether the disease results from it. It must treat an illness outside the list like an occupational disease if, according to new medical findings, the conditions for adding it to the list are met (§ 9 (2) SGB VII).

The hurdle is high: in 2024 there were 90,749 reports of suspected disease, 26,821 cases were recognised, and a new pension was granted in 5,190 cases.

When the BU matters more to you than the Berufsgenossenschaft

Someone in a physical trade who can no longer kneel, lift or work in noise is often already disabled for their own job, yet only slightly reduced when measured against working life as a whole. The Berufsgenossenschaft then pays little or nothing, while the BU pays the full agreed pension.

The self-employed are not automatically protected by the Berufsgenossenschaft. Business owners can insure themselves there voluntarily (§ 6 SGB VII). Whether a pension from the Berufsgenossenschaft is set off against your BU pension is governed by your policy terms.

Step by step

  1. Discuss the suspected occupational disease with your doctor and have it reported to the Berufsgenossenschaft.
  2. File your BU claim in parallel; do not wait for the decision of the Berufsgenossenschaft.
  3. Describe your working day precisely: which tasks, for how long, and which of them you can no longer do.
  4. Collect all findings, periods of sick leave and expert reports and submit them to both bodies.
  5. Check the decisions from both sides and watch the deadlines for an objection.

Checklist

  • Your BU terms waive abstract referral (Verzicht auf abstrakte Verweisung), so you cannot be pointed to another job
  • The yardstick is the job you last did
  • Benefit from 50 percent disability
  • Forecast period of six months
  • If self-employed: cover through the Berufsgenossenschaft clarified
  • Clause on setting off other pensions read in your terms

Common mistakes

  • Relying on the Berufsgenossenschaft although its pension only starts at a 20 percent reduction measured against working life as a whole
  • Holding back the BU claim until the occupational disease has been recognised
  • Taking mental strain at work for an occupational disease although it is not on the list
  • Assuming as a self-employed person that the Berufsgenossenschaft is automatically responsible

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Does the occupational disease have to be recognised before the BU pays?

No.

The BU only checks whether you can no longer do at least 50 percent of your job.

Where the illness comes from does not matter.

Can I receive a BU pension and a pension from the Berufsgenossenschaft at the same time?

The two entitlements exist independently of each other.

Whether the BU sets off another pension is stated in your policy terms.

Is burnout an occupational disease?

No, mental illnesses are not on the list of occupational diseases.

The BU can still pay if you can no longer do at least 50 percent of your job.

Who reports an occupational disease?

Doctors and dentists must report a well-founded suspicion, and so must employers.

You can also notify the Berufsgenossenschaft yourself.

Are the self-employed insured through the Berufsgenossenschaft?

Not automatically.

Business owners can take out voluntary cover.

Those who do not have only their private provision if an occupational disease strikes.

Sources

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